Amparai

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday stated that incidents such as the one in Ampara on Monday were detrimental to the reconciliation process of the country. The President said that such incidents stand as challenges to the government’s reconcilliation programme. “While we launch the Sri Lanka National Policy on Reconciliation and Co-existance, we have…

At least five people were wounded and several shops and a mosque damaged in a clash between majority Sinhalese Buddhists and minority Muslims in eastern Sri Lanka, police said yesterday. Renewed tension has been growing between the two communities since last year, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and…

The project should be up and running within a year. The area, which covers 3,000 acres, is located in the eastern part of the country where 80 per cent of the population works in agriculture. The project will also provide an opportunity to upgrade the local infrastructure.The government also plans to invest in new technologies, build new infrastructure like roads and…

Muslims in eastern Sri Lanka staged a protest on Thursday against the recent arrest of an outspoken Muslim politician. Shops in the eastern town of Ampara were shut and public transport came to a standstill in support of Muslim politician Azath Salley. Salley was arrested recently over allegations that he had made statements which could create communal…

Former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan said the Tamils in the East should not be worried about their future as he would be playing a leading role in the development of that area since he had been appointed as the Presidential Advisor on Eastern development.Addressing a press conference in Colombo, he said there…

UPFA Provincial Council member Najeeb A. Majeed was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the temple Trees a short while ago, sources said. They said, following the SLMC's decision to support the government in the Eastern Provincial Council, the government had named Majeed for the post with the approval from…

It is the 51% that it secured in the Batticaloa District to the UPFA-Pilleyan 31% that settles the matter of Tamil allegiance and is harbinger of what to expect in the Northern PC elections, if ever the international community can get Rajapaksa to cease his shameless breach of the Constitution. He dare not allow NP-PC elections because an autocrat knows not how to…

Eastern Sri Lanka is experiencing wild swings in rain patterns, a change experts link to climate change. Because the eastern and central regions of Sri Lanka are considered the island’s granary, the changes could have a huge impact on rice production. Government authorities and specialists have discussed the possible impact of climate change on national agriculture,…

Sri Lanka has fallen three ranks below in the 2011 Mother’s index compiled by Save the Children (STC). However, Sri Lanka which ranks 43rd among the less developed countries in 'the world to be a mother', is ahead of India and Pakistan in the region. Cuba remained at the top of the eighty less developed countries. European countries along with Australia and…

At least 18 people have died and nearly one million have been made homeless by flooding in Sri Lanka after days of heavy rains, officials said Wednesday. Central and eastern regions of the island have been worst hit by the monsoon rains, with frequent mudslides and rising water levels. Continuing bad weather forced President Mahinda Rajapakse to abandon a tour…

With the withdrawal of the Special Task Force (STF) camp in Oo’ra’ni in Ampaa’rai district 30 August, the Tamil families uprooted in 1990 by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) which had begun to resettle in their own places have been driven away by Sinhala men, sources in Ampaa’rai said. The affected families blame the Chief Minister of Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai…

There are millions of mines and munitions buried worldwide – a lethal risk to people’s health and livelihoods. In the wake of the Sri Lanka conflict, Kate Wiggans reports on the work of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). Landmines and explosives remain hidden long after the conflicts have ended. It is believed that at least one million landmines have been laid in Sri…

A P.E.I. company working to rebuild part of Sri Lanka following the 2004 tsunami is involved in a legal battle with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) over hundreds of thousands of dollars. Canadian Agro Sustainability Partnership (CASP) secured a contract to plan out the reconstruction of the Ampara district of Sri Lanka, one of the areas hardest…

The Department of State warns American citizens traveling to or living in Sri Lanka about the continuing danger of terrorist attacks throughout the country. The Department of State urges American citizens to evaluate carefully the risks of travel to Sri Lanka and specifically warns Americans against travel to the Northern Province and most of the Eastern Province of…

A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier was killed and four wounded Saturday night when the SLA camp at Ka'n'nakipuram in Akkaraippattu of Ampaa'rai district came under mortar fire, according to Sri Lankan police sources. Meanwhile, residents in the area said that the SLA and police launched a cordon and search operation Sunday morning around 8:00 during which men and…

The appropriation of the properties of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) and a Non-government organization in the Tamil areas in Ampaa’rai district by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special Task Force (STF) Friday is a premeditated government plan to prevent the displaced from resettling in their traditional villages, K. Pathmananthan, the Tamil National Alliance…

The Government has decided to replace the Special Task Force in Ampara with the Army with immediate effect. The shifting of 40 STF camps in Ampara will commence today (21).The STF has been providing security to the district for the past 22 years and has over 2,000 men posted there. They would be shifted to the Vavuniya and Kebitigollewa areas in three groups,…

SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem yesterday charged that the government is trying to hand over the Eastern province to paramilitary forces in the area. Speaking at the emergency debate in the House yesterday, Mr. Hakeem said this is a part of state terrorism. He warned that there could be a question mark on the future of the government if it does not ensure a free and fair…

Sri Lanka has fixed dates to hold local elections in the recently recaptured east for the first time in 14 years, a day after the government unveiled a home grown peace plan aimed at giving more autonomy to war-torn areas. "The elections will be held on 10th of March," said an official at the Department of the Elections Commissioner, asking not to be named in line…

The Sri Lankan government on Monday announced its plans to hold local council elections in the island's troubled Eastern Province. "Today I have issued the gazette notification which will allow the Commissioner of Elections to hold elections for nine local councils in the Eastern Province," Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, the minister of Local Government told Xinhua. He…

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Paanama in Poththuvil in Ampaa'rai district has come under attack around 6:30 p.m. Monday, according to military sources in Colombo. 55 SLA troopers were stationed in the camp, the southern most detachment of the SLA in the district, according to initial reports. Meanwhile, official information from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense…

The Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has run into a crisis with 20 members of the ruling party (UPFA), including the four Ministers, boycotting sessions demanding the postponement of the Northern PC polls until the Governor and the Chief Minister are replaced and the administrative infrastructure restored. "We are talking of inefficiency and indifference which are…

National Freedom Front member Jayantha Wijesekara, who was elected to the Eastern Provincial council states that more chances need to be given to Tamil public representation in the Eastern provincial council. He further stated that at least the post of deputy chairman of the Eastern Provincial Council should be given to a member of the TNA and he also requested…

The formidable rise of ethnic parties in the East is a backlash against the rise of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in the post-war period. Once again the people of Eastern Province have rejected the government’s policy of development as THE PATHWAY to reconciliation and lasting peace in the country. The eastern awakening of the opposition parties is a consolation…

The battle for the chief ministerial post of the Eastern Provincial Council has become intense with two Muslim parties, The All Ceylon People’s Congress (ACPC) and National Congress aligned with the ruling coalition at the last election and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) which contested alone, asking for the post, party officials said.The Governor shall…

Last time we did not contest. We went to the Supreme Court and filed a case and said that the Former Chief Minister belonged to a party that was still carrying arms and in such a situation we cannot contest. This time round we are contesting, I would not say that the situation is conducive for a free and fair election, but it is better than the last time. Last…

Villagers in the eastern Sri Lankan district of Amapara have been protesting against the moves by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to acquire their ancestral land in order to establish a new camp. Panama, Kumana, Helawa and Ragamwela residents who have tried to resettle after the war say they were prohibited by the SLN, which the villagers charge of land grabbing. Residents…

Floods in Eastern Sri Lanka has affected over a million people. Over 300,000 have been displaced and the United Nations has called upon the international community to help the victims of the flood recover from this devastation. Eastern Sri Lanka has been victimized by the brutality of war since 1983, and was severely affected by the tsunami of 2004. The needs of the…

Sri Lanka's pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has removed its only MP from the Sinahala majority community, Podi Appuhami Piaysena, after he supported the government on a key bill in Parliament. TNA political bureau decided to remove Piaysena as he backed the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse at the parliamentary vote on the 18th amendment to the…

Even before resettling the Tamils in their traditional areas, the Sri Lankan government is in the process of acquiring lands in the northern and eastern regions of the country to attract foreign investors. Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner Vadivelu Krishnamoorthy said that with the eradication of terrorism most areas in the north and east of the country have been…

More than 1,486 Tamil families are unable to peacefully resettle in their homes in Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Batticaloa due to unlawful and widespread occupation of state land by members of the majority community, according to Tamil politicians. “There are more than 500 families of the majority community who have set up houses and are cultivating paddy in areas…

Seventeen Tamil youths have been either abducted or gone missing in the past two weeks in Moothoor East in Trincomalee district and Thirikkoayil in Batticaloa district, according to complaints made by the youths’ relatives to Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian K. Thurairatnasingam. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and paramilitary…

Four commandos of a Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) unit that launched a search operation into a jungle area in Poththuvil in Ampaa'rai district were killed and one wounded in a counter-attack carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Friday around 11:50 a.m., according to LTTE official Nilavan in Ampaa'rai. The Sri Lankan Police has not…

An evangelical pastor in eastern Sri Lankia was receiving treatment in hospital Tuesday, June 24, a day after he was attacked by militant government forces because of his Christian activities, local believers and investigators said. Reverend Fernando from the Methodist Church in Ampara, a remote city 200 kilometers east of the capital Colombo, was apparently attacked…

Sri Lanka's opposition said today it would launch a mass campaign calling on the government to restore democracy in the island nation after tense Eastern Province elections that it says were tainted by vote tampering and intimidation. Sri Lanka's president yesterday hailed his party's election win as a mandate to push ahead with the war against Tamil Tiger rebels in…

Two members of the civil protection committee established by the Sri Lanka government and a trader were taken into custody by the Ampaarai Police in connection with the killing of a Christian clergy Rev Neil Samson at Ampaarai town on Sunday night, media sources reported. Two members of the civil protection committee are alleged have committed the crime at the…

The Liberation Tigers have attacked and destroyed a Special Task Force (STC) camp in Bakmityawa in the Ampara District in the early hours of Monday, according to initial reports from the south eastern town. The Tigers launched the attack on the STF camp around 4.30 a.m and took control of the camp within an hour, the sources said.

Monsoon flooding has forced more than 30,000 people in east Sri Lanka from their homes, with many taking refuge in temporary shelters like huts, schools and mosques. Flooding and ensuing mass displacement are common in Sri Lanka, fuelled by monsoon rains. In December, 175,000 people took refuge in welfare centres and temples in the eastern and central parts of the…

250,000 civil defense personnel have been recruited for the security of the Eastern Province in addition to the three armed forces, police and home guards, said Media Minister Lakshman Yapa at the cabinet press briefing today (20). The Government provides salaries, firearms and ammunition to these personnel who work attached to temples and village offices etc. As…